MASTERY 1.0
Learn how to master all aspects of your personal, financial, professional, and spiritual life by leveraging the four-part performance formula we used to train some of the most legendary snipers on the planet.
K.I.S.S.
When I first checked in as a Sniper Instructor, there was this debilitating thing floating around called the K.I.S.S. method, which means “Keep It Simple Stupid.” It was debilitating because the art of sniping is a complex skill, and complex skills require complex training methods. It’s what makes the impossible – Possible.
True Practice (TSOPs)
So we had this really high failure rate because we were having our students study and practice within controlled environments with all of the resources they needed to succeed for limited periods of time.
And then when we sent them onto the stalking fields without those resources they had no choice but to just go with whatever stuck from their training and then they would flounder, suffer and fail because of it.
You see TRUE PRACTICE occurs in the real world while we’re TACTICALLY APPLYING a skill set. So a bulk of what they were “Practicing” was not what we taught them, but what they remembered.
So they were getting better at doing what they remembered to do [Experience], but they were not getting better at doing what they needed to be doing to fulfill their intentions of becoming a sniper.
This left a lot of guys really…
…second guessing themselves. There was an impact on their self confidence because they were stuck and they didn’t know why. So to fix the high failure rate that this antiquated K.I.S.S approach to training was causing,
I embraced the complexity of the situation and mastered it by identifying and creating these things I called Tactical standard operating practices (TSOPs).
What they did was allowed the instructors to teach exactly what was needed when it was needed and allowed the students to take the correct action at the precise time.
I even made small laminated TSOPs for sniper students to keep in their Ghillie suits during a stalk to help keep them present to each tactic they should be executing while they were fighting all of the fatigue and frustration that comes from hunting humans without being seen.
These TSOPs radically elevated…
…their performance because they allowed them to be in true practice all of the time. So when they were in the classroom they had their standard operating practices and when they were on the stalking fields they had their standard operating practices.
If you think about it – this is Really no different than a musician using the same sheet music they practice with to perform with. And when do musicians stop bringing the sheet music out for performances?
When they’ve mastered the music!
So what these TSOPs meant for our sniper students was that every moment they were in action they were getting better at what they needed to get better at.
Alleviating The Responsibility To Train
So I thought the same thing would work when I brought it into the corporate environment. I mean, people were very excited about it—and you’ll see why when I show it to you—because it’s precise, and anyone who sees it will immediately recognize that it’s the way to perform at high levels. But at first, it didn’t go.
Some people started to complain and say things like, “That’s not how I learn,” or the lazy, spoiled, arrogant, or undisciplined would say things like, “I don’t like structure,” or “I don’t have time for any of this.”
This perplexed me for a while because…
…I never heard things like that as a trainer in the SEAL Teams. Those just aren’t things you hear from truly ambitious people, and I was used to working with ambitious people. But I was honestly really worried there for a while.
And then the person who hired me explained that a bunch of the people I was working with didn’t actually want to get better at what they were doing.
They were victims who would complain about any training initiative so that they could alleviate their responsibility for their current and future situation.
And that was actually a huge reason I had to leave corporate training. It started to mess with my head.
You see, it can be very dangerous to…
…try to train people who want to blame the training process for their failures rather than their inability to execute the process.
First they start to infect others with their complaints, and if you keep listening to them, they’ll start to infect you as a leader and have you believe that you’re missing something.
Now with that said I do need to…
…also say this. At this point, I’ve attended hundreds of other training events—be it corporate or church—and the honest truth is that 99% of them are weak and ineffective.
Training isn’t standing up and giving presentations, delivering courses, assignments, or quizzes. That’s education and academics.
Training is transferring the skill and capacity required to produce specific, observable, and measurable objectives.
What I’m saying is that I can’t really blame people for resisting most of it, because most of it had no real or meaningful impact on their ability to produce the objectives that lead to their ability to live a good life.
So I left corporate…
…training and consulting and created a globally connected tribe of people who take responsibility for their ability to train.
And ever since, myself and what has now become thousands of others have been using this mastery framework you’re about to learn,
…to convert our personal and professional lives from sources of distraction and diffusion into lives of purpose, passion, and power so that we can,
…win the war between the requirement to generate large sums of money to survive and the responsibility to live a good life while doing so.
And what is required to do that is nothing less than complete life Mastery.
Strategic Writing
When we write, we expand our understanding in ways that produce new thinking—thinking that leads to more powerful distinctions, which allow us to better identify and fulfill the purposes for which we were created.
1: Give an example of when the K.I.S.S. method eventually failed you.
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance.
1: Give an example of when the K.I.S.S. method eventually failed you.
I’m not sure if I’ve seen the KISS method used before.
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance.
Any pursuit that requires high-level performance does not allow time to think through what to do, and needs TSOPs so the complex skill can be done automatically, freeing the mind to think more strategically.
1: Give an example of when the K.I.S.S. method eventually failed you.
– I’ve lived this for the past 12 years in corporate business structure. This is also similar to “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality that so many people use to stay common. When you start to try and change the process to make it better, you’re faced with a lot of disappointed people. These people are usually the long term employee that doesn’t want to see change.
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance.
– I can see this as a very effective way to take select training and use it within real applications while life is happening. A way of being able to fall back on what’s right by understanding the positve outcomes if carried out correctly.
1: Give an example of when the K.I.S.S. method eventually failed you.
I didn’t use the K.I.S.S. method intentionally, but I think it was this method. In 2020, I looked for a flat for rent. I’ve found one. It was horrible (ravaged, old, dirty), but there were not so good circumstances to find a flat in those times. I wanted to move back to Sweden in a short time anyway, and the owner seemed to be OK, especially when one of my friends said she knew him. That was enough for me and I rented the flat. After 4 years I moved away and the ownes wants me to pay for the damages despite knowing very well I didn’t do that. Now I am involved in a lawsuit with him. So I’m facing an unfavourable situation, that is new for me, and costs a lot of energy, time, and maybe it will cost a lot of money in the future. Yes, it was SIMPLE in those days, but it is DIFFICULT these days, and I confirm, it was and still is very, very STUPID.
Next time (last year), I considered all circumstances, and today I live in a cozy flat situated in a fine place, and the owner of the flat is a kind, fair person. It paid to do some complex work instead of doing it simply and stupid.
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance.
When I worked on the previous assignment, I realized the difference between “workflows” and “SOPs”:
When I changed jobs, there were workflows used at my new job. Which means some rules and procedures written and given to us to execute them. Other newcomers just used them. It worked well, and everything was OK. It is usual to do it this way, and I considered doing this to be normal before I started these courses.
But this time, I decided to use the workflows as just basic information, and I’ve created SOPs – something “living and evolving”, that I don’t just use passively, but I still complete it every day: I write there all new things, ideas, and all little things. The result is, that I’m able to give some advices even to people they work there more longer than me, I’m able to organize my work better (so more time lefts for me), and I’m able to notice more details that allows me to avoid a mistake, or it enables me to do something better. That also means more money for me because my superior can see these results. Even my beginning at the job was shorter: other newcomers needed 2 weeks to be able to work independently. I started to work independently after 3 days. Thank you for these courses, Eric!
I’ve come to the conclusion that using passive workflows enables me to do the work, but it doesn’t allow for much improvement. But creating and everydays improving and modifying SOPs allow high-level performance – it is an essential requirement of it.
When Simplicity Backfires: The Hard Lessons of Transition
After nearly three decades in private practice as a chiropractic doctor, I had built a thriving clinic, earning the trust and loyalty of countless patients. For 22 years, I had worked within major HMO managed care organizations and as a top-tier provider for various group health insurance companies. But over time, the fee disparities between payers became staggering. While Medicare provided a set reimbursement, HMOs drastically reduced payments—eventually settling at $26 per visit, unchanged since 1994. It was a system designed for financial suffocation.
In 2008, the housing crash devastated my community. Nearly 40% of my patients were forced to leave the area, abandoning their homes due to underwater mortgages. The storm had hit, and for the first time, I realized the flaw in my business model: I was not being compensated for the true value of my expertise.
Then, I attended a weekend workshop hosted by T. Harv Eker, where one statement changed everything: “If you don’t get paid the value that you’re worth, you’ll never become wealthy.”
My wife and I looked at each other, and in that moment, we made a decision—we were done. I would transition my practice into an all-cash model and reclaim my worth. Upon returning to the office, I sent resignation letters to all HMOs and group insurance providers, giving them 30 days’ notice. It was a clean, simple break—a classic application of the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method.
But simplicity proved to be a fatal miscalculation.
The Unexpected Fallout
Instead of a seamless transition, the insurance companies responded with aggressive countermeasures. They mailed letters to every patient I had ever seen, warning them that I was “no longer qualified” or “credentialed” to provide care—wording deliberately vague enough to imply I had lost my license. The letter encouraged them to request their records and seek treatment elsewhere. Patients called me in distress, asking if I had been shut down.
Worse, one of the chiropractors recommended in the letter was my former tenant, a young practitioner whom I had financially supported during his first 18 months in practice, and had vacated my office just 2-months earlier. He eagerly embraced the wave of new patients, 100’s of them –even encouraging them to file board complaints if they faced delays in obtaining their records.
I had underestimated how a simple $10 co-pay could undermine decades of goodwill. Patients I had cared for—on holidays, late nights, emergencies—walked away without hesitation. I had assumed my reputation and relationships would shield me from the backlash, but the transition needed more than blind faith—it needed strategy.
The Second Storm: Operational Chaos
As if that wasn’t enough, two additional disasters struck. My long-time office manager had to step away to care for an ailing parent, leaving me scrambling to train a new employee during the transition. Simultaneously, my bank and merchant processor updated my credit card terminal to a new “smart card reader.”
Unbeknownst to me, batch processing had not been scheduled on a daily basis, as it had been with my previous system. Four weeks later, I noticed cash flow was unusually low—only to discover that payments had been accumulating without being processed. When I finally ran all transactions in a single day, my merchant account was flagged for suspicious activity. The processor froze my account for 45 days, notifying patients that potential fraud had occurred. Many charged back services they had already received, compounding the financial strain.
The Cost of Oversimplification
What had begun as an attempt to simplify my business model spiraled into a financial and reputational crisis. Had I anticipated the complexity of this transition, I would have:
1. Notified existing patients months in advance, educating them on the shift and reinforcing the value of my continued care.
2. Retained my provider status but stopped accepting new patients, mitigating the insurance companies’ ability to terminate my relationship with existing clients.
3. Launched a structured marketing campaign, including phone calls, postcards, and newsletters to maintain patient trust.
4. Ensured continuity in operational logistics, preventing the merchant account catastrophe.
Lessons Learned
In the sniper training world, simplicity can be dangerous—precision matters. When transitioning my practice, I applied a method designed for quick decision-making but failed to recognize the nuances of human psychology, corporate retaliation, and operational resilience.
K.I.S.S. wasn’t enough. Mastery requires embracing complexity.
In the end, I rebuilt my clinical practice and leveraged my expertise with med-legal consulting, thriving in new ways because of the economy and the escalation of personal injury fraud and abuse. But I learned the hard way that when the stakes are high, the simple route is often the most perilous.
Lewis, what a story! I appreciate how clearly you walk through the lessons learned. Really good example of approaching a very complex situation in an unfortunately simple manner. Thanks for sharing your story and your learnings.
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance.
Why a TSOP Is Essential for Mastery
Through years of experience in chiropractic practice, med-legal consulting, and academia, I’ve come to realize that achieving high-level performance requires more than skill or ambition—it demands structure, precision, and adaptability. A Tactical Standard Operating Practice (TSOP) is the backbone of that pursuit.
Eliminating Mental Overload
In any demanding profession, mental bandwidth is a limited resource. When I was managing a busy practice, consulting on med-legal cases, and juggling academic appointments, I had to streamline decision-making. A well-designed system removes guesswork and hesitation, allowing me to focus on execution rather than constantly reassessing how to approach tasks.
Consistency Under Pressure
There were countless days where I had to make split-second clinical decisions, navigate complex legal cases, or ensure my office functioned smoothly despite setbacks. The key to sustaining high performance wasn’t just experience—it was doing the right thing, the right way, every time. Without clear protocols, mistakes happen, and performance suffers.
Mitigating Unexpected Disruptions
I’ve learned the hard way that systems protect success. Whether it was patients misinterpreting my resignation from managed care, a sudden shift in cash flow due to a merchant processing error, or operational gaps from a key employee’s departure, I saw firsthand how unstructured transitions invite chaos. A well-crafted TSOP would have helped anticipate challenges, create safeguards, and ensure continuity.
Accelerating True Mastery
Mastery isn’t just about working hard—it’s about working smart and deliberately. In practice, I didn’t want to just get better at remembering protocols; I needed to execute them flawlessly under real-world conditions. The same applies to any field—whether healthcare, business, or personal development. A TSOP ensures that every action reinforces the precise skills needed for long-term excellence.
Protecting Reputation & Financial Stability
One of the toughest lessons I learned was how vulnerable success can be. The insurance companies leveraged ambiguity to erode patient trust. My former tenant capitalized on my transition. The financial disruption with my merchant account was avoidable, had I implemented clearer checks and controls. A TSOP acts as a shield against external threats, ensuring that your hard-earned credibility remains intact.
Conclusion
The pursuit of mastery demands a structured approach. I’ve seen firsthand how oversimplifying complex transitions leads to failure. A TSOP isn’t just helpful—it’s essential in preventing avoidable setbacks, strengthening execution, and ensuring that every moment contributes to sustainable success.
1: Give an example of when the K.I.S.S. method eventually failed you.
– The most personal example is when I wanted to date a woman whose parents had a straightforward list of requirements any would-be suitor needed to satisfy. I approached it as a simple series of requirements, but things went sideways and resulted in her parents not being willing to allow me to court their daughter. At first I looked for something or someone to blame for the unexpected turn of events—including myself. In God’s grace I realized I had to change the way I was approaching the challenge. It wasn’t simple. It was a complex situation with a lot of unknowns and I had to respond to it and lead through it with a different mindset. I used creativity to chart a new path and took steps toward intended outcomes, even though I had no guarantee I would succeed. I asked questions like, “What kind of person would I need to become in order to achieve this outcome?” “What would need to be true…?” “How might we (with God’ help) address the concerns her parents had?” What I knew is that I would learn and improve who I was becoming. Long story, short (and there’s a lot of valuable learning in it)—we eventually did get to date and then got engaged and married. Hallelujah!
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance.
– TSOPs are designed to achieve outcomes. They’re regular, repeated practices that can be observed, measured and modified. High-level performance requires precision and mastery. Mastery comes from honing skill through repeated practice. TSOPs describe that practice, and training with them means you’re becoming the kind of person who can perform at a high level in real situations. The practice is not merely academic or theoretical—it’s the same no matter what the context.
1: Give an example of when the K.I.S.S. method eventually failed you: KISS is great for skills already mastered where I’ve already put in the time and effort to learn mastery, and need to overcome fear & anxiety. It’s never great for responding to change in the environment or learning new skills or careers. I’ve winged meetings that I should have put more prep in to keep the team focused and make them feel most useful.
2: Explain why something like a TSOP would be required in any pursuit of high-level performance: TSOP provides a spectrum of benefits, from learning a new environment, assessing requirements, identifying the core steps, and translating those steps into memorized responses including responding to contingencies. This helps translate mental into physical.
KISS has failed me because even though I’ve nearly completed many of my prior basic financial goals before knowing Eric and you all, I have come to think in larger terms and realized my simple approach wasn’t reaching all of my bigger goals and life dreams…not even close. And even then, I thought I could burrow in and “simplify” my distracted approaches and achieve my success that way. Great until I got sick, got frustrated, failed to prioritize effectively etc. There’s a list
I do find there’s a place for simple but it’s in the small space of a defined single task and not in my overall strategic and operational goals
The true goals of my honest life mission map are complicated and there’s no end of distractions that have and will be on my paths, so learning TSOPs that really work are not only useful but essential to understand and to learn to use better and really well
Especially as I continue to define my goals in more and more heroic terms to change my world
I’m a passionate story teller and writer and book advocate who is finding his way
Grateful to be doing that here